Body

A heart muscle protein can replace its missing skeletal muscle counterpart to give mice with myopathy a long and active life, show Nowak et al. The findings will be published online on Monday, May 25, 2009 (www.jcb.org) and will appear in the June 1, 2009 print issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.

In a world first, West Australian scientists have cured mice of a devastating muscle disease that causes a Floppy Baby Syndrome – a breakthrough that could ultimately help thousands of families across the globe.

The research, published online today in the Journal of Cell Biology, reveals how a team at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) has restored muscle function in mice with one type of Floppy Baby Syndrome – a congenital myopathy disorder that causes babies to be born without the ability to properly use their muscles.

Thank parasites for making some of our immune proteins into the inflammatory defenders they are today, according to a population genetics study that will appear in the June 8 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine (online May 25). The study, conducted by a team of researchers in Italy, also suggests that you might blame parasites for sculpting some of those genes into risk factors for intestinal disorders.

Before oil hunters in the early 1800s harpooned whales by the score, the ocean around New Zealand teemed with about 27,000 southern right whales - roughly 30 times as many as today - according to one of several astonishing reconstructions of ocean life in olden days to be presented at a Census of Marine Life conference May 26-28.

At about the same time, UK researchers say large pods of blue whales and orcas, blue sharks and thresher sharks darkened the waters off Cornwall, England, herds of harbour porpoise pursued fish upriver, and dolphins regularly played in waters inshore.

DURHAM, N.C. –An emerging form of the pathogenic yeast Candida is able to complete a full sexual cycle in a test tube, even though it's missing the genes for reproduction. And it may also do so while infecting us, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers.

It appears that some superbugs have evolved to develop the ability to manipulate the immune system to everyone's advantage.

NEW YORK – Results of a phase I clinical trial of a novel herb-based therapeutic called Zyflamend have demonstrated that the therapy is associated with minimal toxicity and no serious adverse events in men at high-risk for developing prostate cancer.

The new findings, led by researchers from the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, are published in the current issue of the Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - While proving a long-held theory that suberin blocks water and nutrient absorption in plants, a Purdue University scientist learned more about manipulating the substance to better feed plants.

Between 20 and 70 percent of Canadians affected by mental illness shun medical treatment. Such avoidance of services provided by doctors and psychologists is particularly acute among men, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research.

In just two weeks from the time the first patient virus samples were made available, Singapore scientists report an evolutionary analysis of a critical protein produced by the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus strain.

In the Biology Direct journal's May 20th issue, Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, Ph.D., and his team of scientists at the Bioinformatics Institute (BII), one of the research institutes at Singapore's Biopolis, also demonstrated the use of a computational 3-dimensional (3D) structural model of the protein, neuraminidase.

(Boston, Mass.)—Potentially modifiable post-fracture complications, including pneumonia and pressure ulcers, are associated with an increased risk of death among nursing home residents who have suffered a hip fracture, according to a new study conducted by scientists at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife.

"Prevention strategies to reduce pressure ulcers and pneumonia may help reduce mortality in this frail population," says lead author Sarah D. Berry, M.D., M.P.H., a research fellow at the Institute and a staff geriatrician at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center.

PITTSBURGH, May 22 – Pregnant women with low levels of vitamin D may be more likely to suffer from bacterial vaginosis (BV) – a common vaginal infection that increases a woman's risk for preterm delivery, according to a University of Pittsburgh study. Available online and published in the June issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the study may explain why African-American women, who often lack adequate vitamin D, are three times more likely than white women to develop BV.

Pi-deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the most common digestive diseases and usually the equilibrium of gastrointestinal microflora are broken, which plays many important roles in the growth, development and performance of the host. Therefore, more clinical interests are arising in monitoring changes of intestinal microflora in intestinal disease and the consequent treatment, especially in TCM therapies.

Looking for efficient anti-tumor drugs is a hot research area. Chrysin (5,7-dihydroxy flavone), a natural widely-distributed flavonoid, has been reported to have many different biological activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-virus, antidiabetogenic activity and clear anxiolytic effect. However, Chrysin is limited in its clinical application because of its modest absorption in the intestine and rapid in vivo glycosylation. To improve the biological activity of chrysin, a number of its derivatives have been prepared for biological testing.